Senator Anne Carney introduces bipartisan bill to prevent financial exploitation of older Mainers
AUGUSTA — On Thursday, April 17, Sen. Anne Carney, D-Cape Elizabeth, introduced a bipartisan bill to enable financial institutions and credit unions to better protect customers 62 years of age or older from financial exploitation. LD 1445, “An Act to Prevent Financial Exploitation of Maine Residents 62 Years of Age or Older,” was the subject of a public hearing before the Joint Standing Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services.
“I remember vividly the day my father fell victim to the ‘grandparent scam.’ Even though I assured him that my son had not been in an accident, it took lots of effort for me to convince him he’d been scammed,” said Sen. Carney. “We know that far too many of our older residents fall victim to financial exploitation given their likelihood to have assets. This bill helps prevent other people from predatory practices by creating a process to bring exploitation to the attention of account holders, the people they trust and law enforcement. I am hopeful that my colleagues will join me to establish this extra safety feature to help prevent older Mainers from losing their life savings to a scammer.”
LD 1445 defines financial exploitation in statute. It also allows the “stop and hold” process already in Maine law for broker-dealers and investment advisers to be used by banks and credit unions for customers 62 years old and older to reduce fraudulent transactions. As written, this legislation allows a bank or credit union to delay a disbursement from an account if financial exploitation is suspected, with proper notification to account holders and the Office of the Attorney General. In addition, LD 1445 allows financial institutions to create a process for account holders to designate someone for the bank or credit union to contact, along with the account owner, when a concern about fraud arises. Finally, the bill would also allow financial institutions and credit unions to provide confidential access to or copies of records related to suspected financial exploitation to law enforcement agencies.
In his testimony in favor of LD 1445, Josh Steirman, Director of Government Relations for the Maine Bankers Association, said, “Fraud of all types is unfortunately increasing — especially schemes targeting older Mainers. … This bill provides another tool in the fight against fraud and elder exploitation. … Depositors should only be restricted from accessing their own funds when a clear need is present and documented – and this bill does just that, establishing objective standards for thoughtful, constructive protections which will help decrease fraud. The bill includes several elements we view as essential: the financial institution must establish clear policy and procedures, reasonable documentation of suspected abuse must be present, and use of these mechanisms by any financial institution is encouraged but not mandated. We believe this program can prevent financial exploitation, and we encourage passage of the bill.”
In her testimony in support of LD 1445, Krista Simonis, Director of Government Affairs at the Maine Credit Union League, said, “[T]he more ways to fight fraud, the better. The stories are devastating, and no one solution will ‘fix’ the problem of fraud, but working together we can hopefully decrease the opportunities fraudsters have to take advantage of what makes us human.”
In her testimony in support of LD 1445, AARP Maine Fraud Watch Program volunteer Pam Partridge of North Anson said, “I have personally heard bank employees say they have concerns about the increasing financial exploitation of their customers and that they are trained to know the signs of potential fraud and what to do as a response. Buying some time to report, investigate, and restore clarity to what is really going on during a scam is a very valuable prevention strategy. … As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. … We need tools like LD 1445 and continued education to prevent financial exploitation in the first place so that we don’t have to tell victims, ‘I am so sorry, but we cannot recover the money you lost.’”
LD 1445 faces further action in the Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee.
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